Anthropic has confidentially filed for an initial public offering in the United States, aiming to beat arch-rival OpenAI to the public markets.
We knew the race for artificial intelligence dominance would eventually spill onto Wall Street, but this move comes much earlier than we expected.
The Claude AI maker submitted its draft registration statement on Form S-1 to the Securities and Exchange Commission on June 1.
While the number of shares and price range are not yet set, the company is reportedly targeting a valuation of nearly 1 trillion USD.
I find it hilarious that Anthropic managed to pull this off just days after overtaking OpenAI in private valuation.
A fresh 65 billion USD funding round recently pushed Anthropic’s private valuation to 965 billion USD.
The Race to Beat OpenAI to the Public Markets
We have been tracking this corporate rivalry closely, and this Technology Update: Anthropic Files to Go Public, Setting Stage for Huge I.P.O. shows how fast the landscape is shifting.
Dan Ives, managing director at Wedbush, believes this filing represents an opening of the floodgates for a dormant IPO market.
We agree with Ives, though we doubt the floodgates will open for companies that do not have “AI” plastered all over their pitch decks.
The situation mirrors the 2019 ride-sharing battle between Uber and Lyft.
Lyft went public first and performed better, while Uber went second and finished its first day of trading below its IPO price.
A Personal Triumph for Former OpenAI Staff
Beating OpenAI to the market is more than just a financial strategy; it is a personal victory for Anthropic’s founders.
Several of the founders are former OpenAI employees who split off to build their own vision.
Dario Amodei, the CEO of Anthropic, is already worth 7 billion USD according to Forbes.
The company, founded five years ago, operates as a public benefit corporation.
Their stated mission is the responsible development and maintenance of advanced AI for the long-term benefit of humanity.
I always chuckle at these lofty mission statements, but at least the public market will give their employees a very real way to cash out their shares.
The Trillion-Dollar Funding Battle Ahead
OpenAI is not expected to sit idly by, with reports suggesting Sam Altman’s firm will file its own confidential IPO paperwork in the coming weeks.
Both companies are seeking tens of
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